OPENCAPE CONNECTIONS
June 2020
HELLO FROM THE CEO
Hello Friends,

This week marks ninety days since the stay-at-home advisory for residents of the Commonwealth was first issued.

This unprecedented situation meant that thousands of towns, businesses, schools and healthcare providers had to quickly pivot to supplying services, products and assistance online. Office workers transitioned to working remotely, teachers and parents partnered to educate our children online, doctors and nurses began conducting telemedicine appointments, and businesses adjusted to serving their customers and clients in new and innovative ways.

Throughout it all, OpenCape strived to meet and exceed our service obligations to all our customers and also meet and exceed our mission goals to help local organizations use technology to reach their objectives.  I am happy to report that I believe we succeeded on all counts.

Now that the economy is reopening in several phases, we'd like to highlight just a few of the ways we have made a difference over the past three months:

~ Offered 100% FREE bandwidth upgrades to any customer that required it. To date over 50 clients requested and received upgrades between 20mbps and Gig+. We also made circuits available to Health Care Providers who requested additional redundancy.

~ Launched two new residential pilot programs in Hyannis, 255 Main Street and 206 Breeds Hill Road to pave the way for Fiber to the Home initiatives throughout our region ~ making it easier and more affordable for residents to work and learn from home.

~ Listened and responded to our customers’ most pressing needs, and coordinated solutions to continue providing Internet services throughout the pandemic. This has included offering business level connections for residents that needed dedicated service.

~ Began a Non-profit Arts Initiative with local cultural institutions to affordably connect their facilities, giving them the Internet infrastructure and services to offer reliable and robust online arts programming and live streamed performances. Our first connection is with the Cotuit Center for the Arts, which will allow them to reshape and innovate how their classes, workshops and exhibits can reach and engage visitors from our region and beyond.

~ Lobbied our legislators to direct Economic Development and Infrastructure funding to the “underserved” communities of the Cape & Islands. The current IT Bond Bill has $1.7M allocated solely for Outer Cape Connectivity Projects.

~ Continued to initiate discussions to further expand the Network to reach underserved areas within our region.

OpenCape is at the forefront of a new digital age. Cape and Island communities are at a pivotal tipping point, socially and economically. As the world around us evolves and continues to react to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as respond to seismic social movements, we need to look to the future of the Cape to ensure we are properly preparing our communities to complete in a world where employment happens from home, learning happens from home, healthcare happens from home, filing for unemployment or assistance happens from home, and operating your business may mean utilizing the only resource available to you, robust, affordable online connectivity.

We thank you for your business, your support and your advocacy. Together we will move the Cape, Islands, Southeastern Mass, and Rhode Island into a fiber future.


Warmly,

Steve
THE HOOK UP
As an essential business, OpenCape continued to be busy throughout the stay-at-home advisory period, connecting new businesses and adding connections for existing customers. And much of our work reflected the increased need for Internet speed and reliability that has become evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With churches closed for in-person attendance until very recently, many houses of worship adapted by offering streaming church services to their parishioners. Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Sandwich contacted OpenCape last month because of slow internet and buffering issues with their online worship, and we quickly connected them to our fiber network. The church has reopened to the public, but continues to offer masses online for parishioners who feel more comfortable worshiping from home.
Listening to live radio and podcasts definitely saw an upsurge while people spent so many hours at home. We recently connected the WCAI hub in Woods Hole and the WZAI tower in Brewster, both of which are part of WGBH Boston and offer NPR programming to listeners on the Cape and Islands.
We launched our first residential pilot program, at the new CapeBuilt Development multi-use building at 255 Main Street, Hyannis. This Fiber to the Home initiative reflects a strong community need for residents to have an affordable choice in Internet connectivity.
OPENCAPE TEAM
When, in 2006, Stephen Smith first heard about the plans to launch OpenCape, he said to himself “I will work there someday!” Now, fourteen years later that career ambition has come to pass, as Smith, who goes by the nickname “ Smitty,” has been newly hired as OpenCape’s Director of Sales and Business Development. Smith, who most recently worked for incumbent internet provider Comcast, brings with him vast industry know-how. “I have worked for nearly every telecom company in the business and I have a wide and varied background in both services and equipment,” he says. “This opportunity marries my telecom experience with my passion for living and working on Cape Cod,

“It was great to find someone with his skills in telecommunications and strong local ties to Southeastern, Massachusetts, including the South Shore, which is an area of growth for us,” says Steve Johnston, OpenCape CEO. “We are in the midst of busy network expansion and we had over 135 applicants for the position,” says Johnston, who indicates choosing Smith was an easy decision. “ Smitty believes in our mission and we are thrilled to have him aboard.”

Prior to his job with Comcast, Smith, who currently lives year round with his family in Orleans but hails from New Jersey, worked in non-profit development. “ I was a professional fundraiser for the United Way when I got out of college,” he says. “And I continued to use those skills to help businesses in the telecom arena.” He says that one of the things he appreciated about his job at Comcast was working with a variety of businesses and finding creative solutions for their communication challenges.

Now with OpenCape he sees even more opportunities to improve the business outlooks for customers. “I really love using technology to solve problems, and to help businesses, especially small businesses, improve revenue and increase customer satisfaction.”

OpenCape being a non-profit organization with a community focused mission adds to the appeal for Smith. “ Being able to deliver the best in Internet services to people who really need them is amazing,” he says. “I’ve had my eye on OpenCape since 2006, so this opportunity is really a dream come true.”
PROJECT UPDATE: FALMOUTH BUSINESS GIGABIT

As businesses across the state were closed throughout March, April and May, many pivoted to either operating online or offering curbside and delivery. Now, as part of Massachusetts' phased reopening, retail shops and service companies along Main Street in Falmouth have begun to welcome back customers to their physical locations. As part of this reemergence of downtown activity, our Falmouth Business Gigabit Project is back in full-swing. We are continuing to connect the more than 40 downtown businesses who have already signed up for this exciting internet initiative, and are hearing from even more potential customers who want to be part of this community focused project.

"This is a great reminder that in our Covid-19 impacted world, this opportunity to connect to the OpenCape 100% fiber network is more valuable than ever," says our CEO Steve Johnston, " Over the past months, we have seen businesses substantially increase their online sales, which requires fast and reliable Internet."

There are still up to twenty (20) free connections still available as part of the Massachusetts Tech Council funding which OpenCape, the Falmouth EDIC and Chamber of Commerce received at the launch of the program. For more information and to begin the application process please visit our Falmouth Gigabit Project page on our website.
OpenCape Corporation 
P.O. Box 1148
Barnstable, MA
02630-2148

www.opencape.org

508-362-2224
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